(Some of) higher ed reckons with reality, the AAUP triples down, the FCC won't let us be, & more!
Bringing you the latest free speech news (11/24/24)
Story of the week
We Asked for It (The Chronicle of Higher Education) by Michael W. Clune
Far from representing a powerful avant-garde leading the way to political change, the politicized class of professors is a serious political liability to any party that it supports. The hierarchical structure of academe, and the role it plays in class stratification, clings to every professor’s political pronouncement like a revolting odor. My guess is that the successful Democrats of the future will seek to distance themselves as far as possible from the bespoke jargon and pedantic tone that has constituted the professoriate’s signal contribution to Democratic politics.
This week in FIRE’s blog
On Nov. 10, Syracuse investigated a report that a “Hitler-like mustache” was drawn on, and then erased from, a whiteboard illustration of an “unrelated cartoon character,” along with the words “Nein Nein.” According to an article published by the Daily Orange independent student newspaper, campus safety officers met with the two students who reported the cartoon and referred them to “support resources.” DPS launched an investigation, reviewing security camera footage, interviewing dorm residents, and soliciting information from the public.
Gov. Greb Abbott’s order ‘hardening state government’ against China is dangerously hard to parse by
Right, left, and in-between: Can we bring our differences to the table? by
From the UK to Germany to Singapore: Police are watching what you post by
Wisconsin school district mulls unconstitutional ‘hate speech’ policy by Aaron Terr
Alumni take action at Macalester College by Bobby Ramkissoon
Iranian agents accused of attempted assassination on U.S. soil — again by
This week in ERI
The fall of the AAUP by me
The truth is that the AAUP relied on free speech and the First Amendment for its entire existence. But once their leaders got confident that enough “right-thinking people” would be in charge forever, they turned on it. They said nothing as tuition prices and bureaucratization skyrocketed while viewpoint diversity among professors plunged. They stopped defending professors whose speech was unpopular with the kinds of scholars who thought the search for truth was over (and that, as luck would have it, they’re the ones who found it!).
International free speech stories of the week
Comic Fern Brady’s poster banned for upsetting Christians (The Times) by Marc Horne
Mother of jailed democrat Hendrick Lui arrested after holding up a banner outside court after son’s sentencing (Hong Kong Free Press) by Irene Chan
Social media platforms to face $50 million fines under social media ban, now to include Snapchat (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) by Isobel Roe
TV Show of the month
‘The Penguin’ on Max was about 1,000 times better than it had any business being. I had always been a Colin Farrell skeptic, but I am one no longer. I’d say my only complaint is they live in a universe where it seems like even the big crime bosses are always doing the dirty work themselves, but that’s a minor point. I highly recommend it.
Greg, your work is vital to the flourishing of our nation and our communities. Thank you so much for all you folks do at FIRE. I have found The Coddling of the American Mind, you wrote with Prof. Haidt, to be so hugely valuable as I work on my Civic Engagement Classic Film curriculum project..... which features 12 Angry Men, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, and other great movie classics. Thank you!!!!
—AAUP relied on free speech and the First Amendment for its entire existence. But once their leaders got confident that enough “right-thinking people” would be in charge forever, they turned on it.
“When I am weaker than you, I ask you for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles.” Frank Herbert (?)
"Everything that allows the triumph of the revolution is moral. Everything that stands in its way is immoral." Sergey Nechayev
Leftists are always consistent in the way they wield their WHO/WHOM morality. They are good tolerant liberals as they quietly gain and consolidate power, but become hanging judges and sanctimonious tyrants once their power is secured.
As the writer of "We Asked For It" says, the academic Left has set themselves up as the enemies of America and our free society—they demand it be deconstructed according to their ideological specifications—and thus should be treated as such.
"My guess is that the successful Democrats of the future will seek to distance themselves as far as possible from the bespoke jargon and pedantic tone that has constituted the professoriate’s signal contribution to Democratic politics." AMEN!